The 2002–03 bobsleigh season belonged to the Germans, who dominated the World Cup circuit and the world championships. The men’s world championships were held in Lake Placid, N.Y., in February 2003. German drivers André Lange and René Spies battled it out all season, with Lange winning three World Cup four-man events and the overall four-man crown. Lange also drove his crew to gold in the four-man competition at the world championships, where driver Todd Hays of the U.S. took the silver. Lange and Kevin Kuske won the two-man world championship race. Pierre Lueders of Canada won the two-man World Cup season title, just two points ahead of Spies.

German driver Sandra Prokoff dominated the women’s circuit, winning five of eight World Cup events during the 2002–03 season and the World Cup title. Teammate Susi Erdmann collected seven medals on the World Cup circuit and finished second in overall standings. Americans Jean Racine, who finished eighth overall, and Jill Bakken battled injuries throughout the season. At the women’s world championships in Winterberg, Ger., Erdmann led the Germans to a sweep of the podium, with Prokoff in a close second. Racine and Vonetta Flowers, in sixth place, were the top Americans.

Skeleton

On the skeleton World Cup circuit, Canadian Jeff Pain and American Chris Soule each won two of the six races. Soule proved the overall victor and became only the second American (after Lincoln DeWitt in 2000–01) to win the World Cup season title. Pain finished in second. At the world championships in Nagano, Japan, heavy snow hampered the race, which was shortened from four to three heats. Pain took the gold, with Soule in second place and American Brady Canfield in third.

Canadians Lindsay Alcock and Michelle Kelly dueled throughout the year, with Kelly taking the women’s World Cup title by two points. American Tristan Gale finished third. Gale also collected a bronze medal at the 2003 skeleton world championships. Kelly won the event, beating the second-place Yekaterina Mironova of Russia by nearly 1.5 seconds.

Luge

Americans Mark Grimmette and Brian Martin finished in the top two spots in five of seven races to capture the overall luge World Cup title. Patric Leitner and Alexander Resch of Germany finished a close second, with Austrians Tobias Schiegl and Markus Schiegl third. At the 2003 world championships in Sigulda, Latvia, Austria’s Andreas Linger and Wolfgang Linger won the doubles gold, followed by Schiegl and Schiegl. Leitner and Resch battled with Grimmette and Martin for the bronze, eventually winning the medal by three-hundredths of a second.

Markus Kleinheinz of Austria unexpectedly captured the men’s singles World Cup title. Germany’s Georg Hackl, who won four of the seven season races, finished five points behind. Armin Zöggeler of Italy raced to the bronze medal overall and won his third straight gold at the world championships. American Adam Heidt battled into fourth place at the world championships.

After winning six out of seven World Cup races, Germany’s Sylke Otto captured her third straight world championship gold and the overall World Cup title. Her teammates Silke Kraushaar and Barbara Niedernhuber finished second and third, respectively, in both the World Cup and the world championships.